


Empty Eyes

by LeesaCrakon



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Canonical Character Death, Character Death, Death, Depressed Peter Parker, Flashbacks, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hurt Peter Parker, Irondad, Kid Peter Parker, Multi, Past Character Death, Peter Parker - Freeform, Peter Parker has PTSD, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Post-Canon, Post-Endgame, Protective Happy, Survivors Guilt, Trauma, spiderson, tony stark - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-05-03
Packaged: 2020-02-15 17:02:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18673822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeesaCrakon/pseuds/LeesaCrakon
Summary: CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR ENDGAME!!!!!---Peter Parker visits Tony's grave and wonders what he could have done differently.





	Empty Eyes

Even before he was dead, Tony Stark's eyes had been empty. Peter Parker's eyes reflected those of the broken man he'd watched die as he made his way to the cemetery, a small bunch of flowers in his hands. He didn't really know what else to get. Nothing seemed good enough. Happy, meanwhile, waited in the car for Peter to finish. He wanted to visit the grave of his old friend, but Happy knew that Peter needed time alone. Peter carefully placed the flowers on Tony's grave and knelt down, running a finger across the name engraved in the stone. His throat tightened and he quickly withdrew his hand. 

"I can't believe you're really gone," Peter whispered, more to himself than anything. "The good guys aren't supposed to die..." He choked up and bowed his head, twisting the sleeve of his jacket in his hand. He fought back the tears that welled up in his eyes but despite all his efforts, they began to softly fall onto Peter's knees. The teenager sobbed quietly and his shoulders trembled as he gripped the top of the grave with one hand, his breathing shaky. 

_Peter watched in disbelief as Thanos' troops faded away into ash. He turned quickly, looking to see that none of his friends had disappeared like before, even patting himself a bit, and was met with a sight that made his blood run cold. Mr. Stark was leaning against a fallen wall from the Avengers Headquarters, the right half of his body badly burned. Peter's heartbeat quickened as he shot out a web and landed just behind Rhodey, who was already at his side. He could faintly hear himself call out his mentor's name, but he was in a daze as he stumbled forward and got on his knees in front of the fallen superhero. He looked like he was already dead. Peter's heart clenched as he desperately tried to get Mr. Stark's attention, his voice trembling. He grabbed onto him and tried to fight back tears._

_"Hey, Mr. Stark, can you hear me?"  His voice was trembling from the effort it took to hold back sobs. "I-It's Peter." Tony's eyes flickered slightly and Peter let out a breathy sigh of relief, smiling faintly at the man in front of him. His next response was breathless. "hey... We won... Mr. Stark." Peter could feel himself say something else, but his mind was blank as tears swam in his vision. His voice broke and he felt a gentle hand slowly guide him away from Tony Stark's broken body. Ms. Potts- or, Mrs. Stark now, as Tony had explained when they had time during the battle, gave Peter a gentle squeeze and passed him to Rhodey, who kept a firm but comforting hand on his shoulder as Pepper knelt down in front of their husband. Peter watched as the couple spoke softly to only each other, and a small flame of hope sparked in his chest... Until Mr. Stark's reactor slowly turned dark and his hand slipped off of Pepper's. Peter collapsed onto his hands and knees, his teeth clenched as his body heaved with deep sobs._

Peter hugged himself and sobbed, bent over with his forehead pressed against the grass. He gasped for air and shook as his tears fell rapidly, streaking down his cheeks. He felt so _ **lost**_ without Tony being here. Being Spider-Man, being mentored by Tony, had been one of the few things that Peter had lived for. Peter needed Mr. Stark. The **_entire world_** needed Mr. Stark. As Peter sobbed and trembled, he didn't notice Happy hesitate before stepping out of the car, cautiously making his way over to the distraught teenager. Peter flinched as a large hand rested on his shoulder and looked up to see Happy looking down on him with a conflicted expression. 

"You know, Tony wouldn't want to see you like this," Happy muttered. Peter shaky lifted himself up off the ground and sat back on his heels, his sobs slowly quieting as he stared blankly at the grave. When Peter didn't answer, Happy sighed and sat down next to the kid. "Look, kid, I know you miss him. All of us do. He was great-"

"It should've been me," Peter interrupted, cutting off the man next to him. Happy blinked and tried to retort, but Peter beat him to it. "Mr. Stark didn't deserve to die. I could've...I could've done it...I don't really mean much to anybody," Peter continued softly, looking down and wringing his jacket in his hand. "MJ and Ned could find other friends... Aunt May would be sad at first but she knows other people... and... and Mr. Stark n-never really..." Peter's voice trailed off and his lip trembled as he quickly wiped his eyes on his sleeve. His eyes were already red and puffy from crying and Happy felt panicked at the thought of this young boy beside him breaking down again as he'd seen from the car. Hesitating, he wrapped an arm around Peter and pulled him close. 

"I'd miss you," Happy admitted. Peter blinked and looked up at Happy in shock. Quickly covering his tracks, the man finished, "I mean, who else would give me calls at every hour of the day?" Peter let out a soft chuckle and leaned into Happy's side, closing his eyes for a brief moment. Happy felt the same surge of protectiveness he'd had the day of the funeral when he saw little Morgan crying on her family's porch. "Other people would miss you too. Your Aunt May already lost your Uncle, you and Ned have been best friends since...forever..." Happy stopped himself from telling Peter how much the two of them reminded him of Tony and himself. "Now, MJ, pretty sure that girl has the hots for you-" Peter gave a start and his face turned crimson red, making Happy smile. "Oh come on, you can see it from a mile away. Anyways, Pepper sees you like a son after all the time you spent at the Stark tower... as for Tony, he practically went crazy when you died the first time around. After he got rescued from space, that's when everyone really noticed it. He always carried a picture of you in his wallet, and he has a framed picture of the two of you that he keeps by the sink... you two are giving each other bunny ears and holding some sort of certificate. He missed you every day. If you'd died, again, he would've put himself through hell. You meant a lot more to him than you thought, kid," Happy said. Peter stayed quiet, but Happy felt the teen's grip on him tighten slightly. 

"You mean it?" Peter whispered. "Mr. Stark really missed me?" 

"Yeah. Yeah, he missed you. A lot. If he'd seen you die twice... I don't even want to think about what that would do to him." Peter bit his lip. 

"Me neither," he admitted softly, sighing and sitting back up, pulling away from Happy. "I think I'm ready to go home..." Peter continued, standing up and brushing the dirt off his knees. He hesitated. "Do you need a minute with him? I can wait for a bit," Peter offered. Happy smiled and pat the kid's shoulder affectionately, giving him a nod. Peter made his way back to the car and Happy sighed, standing back up and facing Tony Stark's grave. He stood in silence for a moment. Part of him couldn't believe that his best friend was really, truly dead, but the rest of him knew that Tony would'be wanted to die this way; protecting the ones he loved. 

"Don't worry, Tony. I'll keep an eye on them. Pepper, Morgan, Peter, all of them... I'll keep them safe for you, bud," Happy said, giving the grave a curt nod. He could've sworn he heard the familiar chuckle of the inventor, but dismissed it and gave the grave one last gaze before strolling back to the car. As Happy drove off with Peter, a soft rain began to fall, painting the gravestone and flowers with streaks of water. 


End file.
